Hu Honua Bioenergy will sell biomass power to HELCO

This rendering shows Hu Honua's biomass plant being built on the site of the former… more

Courtesy Hu Honua

Hawaii Electric Light Co. signed a power purchase agreement on Monday for Hu Honua Bioenergy to provide 21.5 megawatts of power generated by its Big Island biomass plant at the former Pepeekeo Sugar Mill.

The 20-year agreement, which must be approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, calls for Hu Honua to sell the electricity to HELCO, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (NYSE: HE), at “pricing not tied to the price of oil,” HELCO said in a statement. The exact pricing was not disclosed.

Hu Honua is converting the old Hilo Coast Power Co. facility at the Pepeekeo Sugar Mill into an electric generation facility that will be powered by locally grown biomass such as eucalyptus. The old plant burned sugar cane waste, and later, coal, to generate electricity.

Hu Honua estimates that when completed, the plant will generate 10 percent of the Big Island’s electricity. The project is expected to create 80 to 100 jobs during the construction phase, which is expected to take 18 months, and 28 to 30 jobs once the plant is operational.